South Asia Working Group

Maneesha Wanasinghe

The subcontinent known as South Asia consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In each of these countries, there exists a number of protracted conflicts which shed light on the basic needs and fears of the people and the challenges of a colonial heritage. There is both tragedy and hope in the midst of these conflicts because, along with the violence, this region is also the birthplace of satyagraha. While it is easy to explain the violence perpetrated by the antagonists, it is nonetheless difficult to generalize and classify some of the conflicts raging within the subcontinent. Another difficulty lies in presenting these conflicts as inter— or intra-state, since a protracted conflict within one country might influence or be influenced by others.

It is, however, possible to note that there are both cleavages and cohesions among the conflicts of South Asia and between the groups engulfed within them. Therefore, this article will initially attempt to introduce the region and present some of the conflicts by providing insights into the groups fighting against the status quo.

The reasons for the conflicts in South Asia could be broadly categorized as separatist, religious, communal, ethnic, communist – democratic, caste, class, and fear of assimilation or marginalization or extinction. It must be stressed once more that the information contained here is merely a broad synopsis rather than an indepth analysis of the countries or the conflicts. It must also be noted that, although there are a number of conflicts within South Asia that pre-date independence and even colonial rule, the article will focus on the manifest rather than the latent conflict which showered in the obvious existence of a contentious issue.

South Asian Subcontinent

All of the South Asian countries were either British colonies or protectorates or their security and foreign affairs were guided by Britain. By 1947, India and Pakistan were carved out of British India and in 1948, Sri Lanka also gained independence. Britain also relinquished all control of the regions that were either protectorates, as in Maldives, or kingdoms guided by Britain, as in Bhutan and Nepal. Both India and Sri Lanka have consistently remained socialist democracies, while Pakistan has interspersed military dictatorships with democratic rule.

Currently, Pakistan has its fourth thinly veiled military rule. Bangladesh came into existence after seceding from Pakistan in 1972. It has been threatened by military coups but is currently a democracy. Both Nepal and Bhutan have monarchies, while the Maldives of more than a thousand islands is a republic ruled for over 20 years by its current president.

The subcontinent is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic, multicultural area. It is the birthplace of two major religions – Hinduism and Buddhism – and is home to all other religions. The region is also the custodian to ancient, proud, tumultuous histories. All these threads intertwine in present-day South Asia, resulting in a multitude of conflicts, some protracted and extremely violent, others latent. Some of the violence has been attributed to ‘terrorist’ groups. A caveat regarding the term ‘terrorist’ must be stressed here, since most of the groups using violence to fight against established governments within South Asia have been termed ‘terrorist groups’. While most of these groups might be misclassified, some of them have conducted their fight with enough disregard for human life to earn this lable. There is also government terrorism which, according to the anti-government groups, justifies all violence against civilians and governments.

Cleavages and Cohesions

It is possible to present the protracted conflicts within the South Asian region from a country–by–country, regional, or issue-based perspective. Therefore, this article will initially describe of some of the conflicts existing within each of the seven countries of the subcontinent and then discuss the links among the groups as a result of the issues that underlie the conflicts. It must be noted that, other than the Kashmiri conflict, most of the protracted conflicts within the South Asia region consist of intrastate conflicts which have, as will be explained further below, spilled over and impacted their neighbors.

The Kashmiri conflict is the most prominent and protracted interstate conflict within the region. The Kashmiri issue has plagued relations between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the two countries emerged from under the British yoke. Because of the religious undertones that justified the creation of Pakistan, the Muslim majority Kashmir kingdom became an issue even prior to independence. Both India and Pakistan demanded Kashmiri annexation because of its Muslim majority status. India sought to prove its ability to govern a Muslim majority region and thereby demonstrate that it was a secular state. This has led to two of the three wars between India and Pakistan and to a nuclear standoff in the late 1990s; there are a number of terrorist groups which have conducted atrocious activities within Kashmir and in India to achieve their ends.

India, with over a billion people, is a multi–ethnic, multi–religious, and multi–lingual country with a diverse number of protracted conflicts. Other than the Jammu–Kashmiri conflict, groups within Assam, Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, and Tripura regions, among others, have used violence to achieve their goals. However, not all of the groups have the same outcome in mind, even within the same region. Some use violence to unite marginalized groups while others use it to gain sovereignty, and yet others use it to create a communist (Maoist) socialist system of government. In Manipur, for example, the United National Liberation Front fights for independence; the People’s Liberation Army to unite the non – tribal peoples; the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak to remove outsiders from the state; and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland to create a greater Nagaland.

While there are a number of conflicts within each of the countries of South Asia, there are also ties between the groups that wage the conflict to present a cohesive network of interaction. Four of the seven countries of South Asia share a border with India and even the islands of Sri Lanka and Maldives are not far enough from the mainland to avoid influences from their neighbors. Internal cohesion within Pakistan, for example, has been impacted by current conflicts within its neighbor Afghanistan. These include the existence of Al Queda within and near its border, which has exacerbated divisions between the Sunni and Shi’a within Pakistan regarding how to rule the country. In Bangladesh, due to Taliban activities, there are groups demanding a strongly Muslim state. Other groups are fighting for a Maoist state. Even the Sri Lankan conflict has been exacerbated by Indian involvement, while the Sri Lankan ‘terrorist’ group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attempted to overthrow the Maldivian government in 1988. In the landlocked countries of Bhutan and Nepal, the issues within each country, as well as the impact of India, have created a number of conflicts. For the Bhutan kingdom, the predominant conflict is the result of armed Nepalese dissidents within its borders but it is also concerned about the use of its territory by groups from Indian Assam and West Bengal as a base for attacking India. Due to the unprotected borders between these countries, illegal drugs, arms, and human trafficking are also rampant.

Hope for Conflict Resolution

There is a glimmer of hope for resolving conflicts in the region. The protracted conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sinhala-dominant government and the Tamil minority separatist groups, especially the LTTE had led to a loss of over 65,000 lives and countless years of terror and violence. However, in February 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the LTTE was signed and violence has been reduced considerably and mediated peace talks have continued intermittently since then. In Nepal, there is also hope for peace due to a ceasefire between groups attempting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and create a (Maoist) communist state.

As illustrated, the region of South Asia presents a daunting task for conflict resolution. There are a number of conflicts resulting from various social, cultural, religious, economic, and political reasons. The groups fighting these conflicts often find sympathetic supporters within and outside of their own country. There is, however potential in the region and a hope for a future of reduced of conflicts.